12v BATTERY FAULT - SVCE SOON ...

[Deleted member 3569]

Here is my peeve:
My '21 RWD Std battery (Job 1) MME delivered on 05/21 ran flawlessly till about March of this year when I had to take in for failure of Intelligent Cruise, then again to do the 21P22 Customer Satisfaction program update, and again to do the glass and sunroof recall ... ever since that I kept getting the annoying 12v Battery Fault - Service Soon pop ups. My current OTA is v.2.8.3 (blueCruise works flawlessly) and FordPass is iOs v. 14.7.0 ... Earlier, I had posted my lamentations and actually Ford responded and opened a CAS file for me (thank you Ford !!!) ... took twice to dealer and they told me the problem was found, fault codes cleared and the respective modules re-flashed with latest software. This was back in early May ... and now in end of June the pop ups came back with full vengeance !!! It pop ups when I start the car after few days of idle but not when continually used.

I read on different threads how to do 12v AGM battery rejuvenation charge ... I used a cTek smart charge, followed the procedures and left on charge for about four days straight .... guess what ??? The pop ups so far have VANISHED....

What I really don't understand is that from what I read, you are supposed to put a charger across the AGM battery during the duration of any software updates and/or other shop work. This is really baffling to me, am I assuming that the dealer who did my work did not follow the Ford prescribed steps by not putting a charger across the AGM battery ???

Of course there is no way I can challenge that the technician did not follow Ford outlined procedures ... If this is the case, Ford just squandered away money in unnecessary warranty repair costs.

PS: This is my second week without the annoying pop-ups.

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[New2EV]

My car ('21 job 1 rwd prem) is currently at the dealer getting software and a few other items fixed. It had to stay there over the weekend. I got a low voltage warning this morning and according to the mache app, the voltage is 12v (normally 13-14). I assume they didn't put a charger on the battery while doing this work either. Probably not something they are used to doing with ICE cars, so they don't worry about it with EVs either. Hopefully I don't start getting the same warning you are once the cars is finished.

Shouldn't your battery be replaced under warranty? Isn't everything covered by 3yr warranty? My wife's explorer had a battery go bad in under 3 yrs and it was replaced by the dealer under warranty.

 

[RickMachE]

If you set Securialert, you'll know if they open the hood to connect the battery or not.

 

[Deleted member 3569]

My car ('21 job 1 rwd prem) is currently at the dealer getting software and a few other items fixed. It had to stay there over the weekend. I got a low voltage warning this morning and according to the mache app, the voltage is 12v (normally 13-14). I assume they didn't put a charger on the battery while doing this work either. Probably not something they are used to doing with ICE cars, so they don't worry about it with EVs either. Hopefully I don't start getting the same warning you are once the cars is finished.

Shouldn't your battery be replaced under warranty? Isn't everything covered by 3yr warranty? My wife's explorer had a battery go bad in under 3 yrs and it was replaced by the dealer under warranty.

From what I am experiencing I don't believe I got a bad battery, for after charging I am not getting any more of the pop ups, meaning it is holding the charge? I read that one of the weakness of the AGM battery is if you don't charge enough then the cathode gets built up and it weakens the capacity but it doesn't necessarily means it is a dead battery ... whether this will contribute to early failure, I don't know. So after doing rejuvenation cycle with a smart battery charger I was able to restore to original or close to original capacity (?).

Even with the pop up warnings I was able to start and drive normally. I drove from about April to early June with no issues.

My peeve is if this was the problem why couldn't it be flagged by the shop? I had to go back to the dealer for second time. I would fully understand if the pop up was due to a bad battery, but if it was artificially induced because prescribed shop procedure was followed, then this really makes me question about the reliability of Ford franchise dealers handling the EV's.

 

[Deleted member 3569]

If you set Securialert, you'll know if they open the hood to connect the battery or not.

yes and no ... they could have disabled it. Anyway I didn't have it set when I took the car to the dealer. May be put some tell tale tape on the trim pieces or at the red insulating cap by the + charging post.

 

[RickMachE]

yes and no ... they could have disabled it. Anyway I didn't have it set when I took the car to the dealer. May be put some tell tale tape on the trim pieces or at the red insulating cap by the + charging post.

I don't think they can disable it, and why would they?

 

[Deleted member 3569]

I don't think they can disable it, and why would they?

I agree but opening the hood doesn't mean that charger was put across the AGM battery ... If I had put a piece of tape at the bottom of the red cap, and if the tape was dislodged after service that certainly would be a logical conclusion that not charger was used.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Th low voltage battery is so small that a programming power supply capable of at least 40A at 12V is necessary for most updates. The instructions for the updates even explicity note that a power supply must be connected. ??

 

[Gimme_my_MME]

Th low voltage battery is so small that a programming power supply capable of at least 40A at 12V is necessary for most updates. The instructions for the updates even explicity note that a power supply must be connected. ??

Yes but we know how well reading of the instructions has been going

 

[Deleted member 3569]

Yes but we know how well reading of the instructions has been going

I am now more certain than ever that the tech who worked on my vehicle DID NOT put a charger acroos the AGM battery during three times I was there ... why? After charging the battery with smart charger and following the Bulk, Absorption and Bulk stage cycles (about 4 days) my pop ups miraculously vanished ... whenever I start there is none of that irritating 12 Volt Battery Fault - Service Soon ....

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